Google is taking a huge step in its attempt to kill Flash for good, and this matters to any company using Flash in the website ads it runs. Google’s Chrome browser, which is the leading browser for nearly all of Meister Media’s brand websites (which means its probably also how your customers view your website), will no longer autoplay Flash ads. Instead, these ads will show a play button (see image below). The Flash ads will automatically be paused so they will not play unless a user interacts with them.
This change impacts any and all Flash ads — not just ads with video in them. Ads built using HTML5 will, however, continue to autoplay any animation or video. This is important to note if you are working on ads from this point forward. Mozilla has taken steps to kill Flash with its FireFox browser by blocking Flash ads altogether.
Meister Media will continue running Flash ads at least through the end of 2015, and we may decide to continue running them beyond that. The decision of how to build your online ads ultimately lies with you. We just want to make sure you are aware of this issue and understand what it means for your ads.
If you are interested in learning more about Google’s change you can read their blog post about “Bringing Better Performance to Rich Media in Chrome.”
If you are interested in HTML5 standards you can check the IAB website link discussing those digital creatives.
Charlie Craine is Meister Media’s director of emedia. He can be reached at 440/602-9171 or [email protected].